SIMPLICITY

It has been a distinct honor to be an active part of the St. Francis College community in Brooklyn, NY ever since my son enrolled at SFC in 2016. Having been born in Brooklyn and considering SFC myself as a potential college choice many years ago, I knew SFC was a special place. The energy was different, the people were different – I knew this would be a great fit for my son, but I also couldn’t help but think: “How can I become more deeply involved in this community!”

That thought started a journey that has guided me to the Executive Suite at SFC as I now serve as Interim President. During my journey, I have learned a great deal about St. Francis of Assisi and his deeply compelling life of genuine love and the genius of his ministry.

Most of us, I’m sure, are familiar with God’s answer to Francis when he was at a point of confusion and indecision in his life. God said: “Francis, go and rebuild my church which, as you see, is falling down.” It is widely understood that Francis thought this meant God was asking him to manually rebuild the dilapidated local church that he was attending in San Damiano. Later on, however, it became clearer that God had global impact planned for Francis’ life and that the rebuild was not just for the small “c” church, but ultimately for the big “C” Church.

One of the sayings that I often communicate throughout SFC is, “You can’t scale complexity, you can only scale simplicity.” Let’s apply this to Francis’ situation. If Francis had interpreted God’s call on his life to mean that he was supposed to rebuild the entire Church, where would he have started? What would he have done? Would he have just walked right into St. Peter’s Basilica and told the Pope that it was time to make some changes? Even though Francis was quite bold, I doubt that this would have been his strategy. When the task is seen through the lens of complexity, it is much more difficult to come up with a strategy or even envision the final destination.

If, however, we can approach things through the lens of simplicity, progress can begin immediately. When he hears, “Francis, go and rebuild my church,” Francis – most likely after a bit of shock having just heard the voice of God – begins to rebuild the church right in front of him, brick by brick. That then evolves into a strategy of person by person: perhaps we can think of the “living stones” that we read about in the First Letter of Saint Peter. Clearly there is great beauty, elegance and clarity in simplicity.

In closing, let’s apply this line of thinking to Franciscan higher education. I see some similarities between Francis’ calling and our calling as institutions under his patronage. What does it look like to rebuild Franciscan higher education which, as we see, in many ways, needs rebuilding? Perhaps at a level of complexity that is simply too fragmented to address. However, if we start with each person around us, if we give each of our students an intentional, personalized experience and address the needs of our communities through service, then we can start to make progress. We can learn a lot from Francis – he is a prime patron for any college. The takeaway for today: start with what is in front of you. Or, as it is attributed to Francis: “Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” Simple, clear, elegant and beautiful!

Tim Cecere
Interim President
St. Francis College

"Brooklyn Bridge" by Greg Parker